A modification that generates disappointment
An amendment to Law 21/2000 on patient autonomy entered into force on April 7. This modification regulates the granting of the document of advance wishes (DVA) and allows these documents to be granted in front of health professionals in the field of primary, hospital or socio-health care. However, this modification has generated great disappointment in the Official College of Administrative Workers of Catalonia (TSCAT), an organization that represents more than seven thousand registered administrative workers. The reason for this disappointment is that the amendment excludes administrative workers in the field of health, as they are not recognized as health professionals (https://www.softcatala.org/resum-de-textos-en- Catalan/).
Claiming the character of a healthcare profession
The TSCAT has been vindicating the nature of administrative work in the field of health as a health profession. However, the competent administrations have not promoted its incorporation into Law 44/2003 on the Organization of Health Professions. This means that administrative work is not part of the professions before which citizens can express their advance wishes and excludes administrative workers from the role of qualified witness or notary (https://www.softcatala.org/resum-de- texts-in-Catalan/).
The essential role of administrative health workers
Administrative health workers are professionals who, due to their training and involvement, could assume the role of qualified witness or notary in the granting of advance directive documents. Until the entry into force of the law, administrative health workers were the professionals of reference in the primary care teams to accompany citizens throughout the process of carrying out and validating the DVA. However, with the amendment of the law, these professionals have been excluded and their knowledge and experience wasted. This decision has generated discomfort shared by many colleagues (https://www.softcatala.org/resum-de-textos-en-catala/).
The contribution of health administrative work
The TSCAT considers that the intervention of professionals in administrative health work could actively contribute to the increase in the percentage of documents of advance wishes among citizens. During the more than 20 years in force of the law that has just been amended, the administrative health workers have played an essential role in informing citizens about the possibility of granting the document of advance wishes and in the administrative and communication to the Registry of Advance Wills of the Department of Health. However, administrative work does not add any added value to administrative tasks and is detrimental to interventions and health care functions, which are typical of the profession (https://www.softcatala.org/resum-de -catalan-texts/).
The demand to introduce the appropriate legal modifications
The TSCAT, as an entity representing such a large number of professionals in administrative work, requests the introduction of the appropriate legal modifications that allow the intervention of health administrative work in the processes of granting documents of advance wishes. This intervention should be in terms equivalent to other professionals in health centers. The TSCAT insists on the fact that administrative health workers feel marginalized and that their professional intervention is being wasted, which is not good news for people (https://www.softcatala.org/resum-de -catalan-texts/).
